Saturday, 2 April 2011

Well, I've let this blog slide for about 5 months now... seems about time to update your Nine Curious Minds on the fascinating subject of What I Have Been Up To, Artwise. I'll be taking your questions now, and by you, I mean a voice in my head that I ascribe to you, the followers of my half-dead blog.

Where in the world are you, now?

Back at home for the time being. Australia was fun. Evidence:

Me, my sister and our friend Mitch out at the pub in Melbourne.

Venice was also fun. Evidence:

My girlfriend Michelle and me baring our teeth to express happiness.

But now, I have to pay retroactively for those adventures, by doing my Least Favourite Job on Earth, siding installation. It's not really the worst, I've just spent far too long installing siding for someone who has no aspirations to become a Full Fledged Siding Installer.

Will I be stopping this possibly-annoying Capitalization Habit anytime soon? You might wish!

How many websites do you have now?

Far, far more than any man should. I want very badly to have some kind of cohesive, consolidated web presence, but instead, I keep making new websites, giving up on/getting frustrated with them, and moving on. But humour me, and allow me to list the ones that I actually maintain, or intend to maintain.

twitter.com/blimpsahoy
Everyone's gotta have a Twitter. At least that's what they told me. So I made one. And I don't really know what it's for, so sometimes I post phrases that I think are funny, or links to the comics of myself or others... it is to be considered 'active'.

blimpsahoy.com
This is going to be my Main Official Portfolio/Webcomic Type Site... but my vision for it isn't quite clear and I have no patience these days for web design, an exercise that seems to be all about finding out how frustrated you can make yourself before you need a lot of fresh air and alcohol. So yeah, for the time being that is defunct... hopefully next time I post it will be working.

jamespencer.ca
This is the site I made like 3 years ago and haven't modified since. It's full of really old work (some of which I'm still really proud of), and once my new site is running, jamespencer.ca will just forward directly to blimpsahoy.com.

blimps.tumblr.com
This is the new one. This one actually updates every single day! With full-colour comics, for christing out loud. So if you have a tumblr, go follow it!

missyoucomics.tumblr.com
Last but most, this is where Michelle and I take turns posting comics written to each other as a kind of illustrated love letter while she's in Venice and I'm still in Ontario. This one is currently active, too!

Okay so your website situation is pretty good. But how are your comics going?

Actually, excellently! For the first time in my life, I'm making daily comics, and getting them done every single day! I've been trying since October, but somewhere around mid-January, something just clicked and now the comics they are flowing like so much champage.

In fact, now that I've got 3 months worth, I'm collecting them as a zine and calling it Toony Quarterly. As the name suggests, it's a quarterly publication of 'toons that costs a toonie and a quarter. I'll be selling it at a couple of zine fairs and comic conventions this spring!

With so many websites and comics on the go, are you going to forget about this blog?

No! I am going to remember about this blog! From this day forth, I'll use it to update you monthly on the advances I make toward a Career in Comics! Promise!

Love,
-James

p.s. If you actually made it to the end of this post, I'd really appreciate a quick comment just saying you read it. It would help to know that I'm not blogging into a void.